AST Digital Magazine FINAL (2.5.16) Feb 2016 | Page 11

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Volume 1

As Final Head-of-State Nuclear
Security Summit Approaches, Nunn
and NTI Warn of Slowing Progress on
Preventing Nuclear Terrorism
2016 NTI Nuclear Security
Index
finds
countries
unprepared for cyber attacks
on
nuclear
facilities;
introduces new "sabotage
ranking"
At a time of escalating threats
and as world leaders prepare to
gather for the final Nuclear Security Summit, the third edition of the
Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) Nuclear Security Index finds that progress
on reducing the threat of catastrophic nuclear terrorism has slowed and
major gaps remain in the global nuclear security system. The 2016 NTI
Index, which has become a critical resource and tool for assessing the
security of the world's deadliest materials, also finds troubling shortfalls
in areas assessed for the first time: how well countries are protecting
nuclear facilities against sabotage, as well as the emerging threat of
cyber attacks.

February 2016
received the maximum score on cybersecurity.
• A new "sabotage ranking" of 45 countries with certain types of nuclear
facilities shows that many countries considering nuclear power are
struggling to put in place the basic measures necessary to prevent an
act of sabotage that could result in a radiological release similar in
scale to the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.
World leaders are scheduled to meet in Washington for the fourth and
final Nuclear Security Summit March 31-April 1. The upcoming meeting
caps off a series of summits in Washington (2010), Seoul (2012), and
The Hague (2014) that have drawn attention to the threat and
committed countries to stronger measures to prevent nuclear terrorism.
"President Obama launched the summit process, and he and his team, as
well as a host of committed world leaders, deserve credit for their
achievements so far," Nunn said. "The work is not complete, however,
and a plan to sustain high-level political attention on nuclear security
must be a top priority at the Summit."
"The current global nuclear security system has dangerous gaps that
prevent it from being truly comprehensive and effective," said NTI
President Joan Rohlfing. "Until those gaps are closed, terrorists will seek
to exploit them. Leaders must commit to a path forward when they meet
this spring. The consequences of inaction in the face of new and
evolving threats are simply too great."

"The purpose of the NTI Index is not to award gold medals or scold
those who do not score well. Our purpose is to show how all countries
can improve the security of dangerous nuclear materials," said NTI CoChairman and former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn. "Significant progress
deserving of two cheers and applause has been made, but the world
has miles to go before we sleep."
The NTI Index, developed biennially with the Economist Intelligence Unit
(EIU), finds that, since 2014, no improvements have been made in
several key areas related to securing highly enriched uranium and
plutonium that are measured by the NTI Index: on-site physical
protection, control and accounting, insider threat prevention, physical
security during transport, and response capabilities. The number of
countries taking the most important step to prevent theft—eliminating
their materials—also has dropped. In the two-year period preceding
the release of the 2014 NTI Index, seven countries eliminated their
weapons-usable nuclear materials; the 2016 edition finds one
country—Uzbekistan—moving from the list of countries with weaponsusable nuclear materials to the list of those without those materials.
Responding to the changing threat environment, for the first time the
2016 NTI Index assesses the potential risks to nuclear facilities posed
by cyber attack and sabotage.
The results are striking:
• Nearly half the countries assessed do not have a single requirement
in place to protect their nuclear facilities from cyber attacks, and only
nine of the 24 countries with weapons-usable nuclear materials

Co untry Highlights
In the "theft ranking":
• As in 2012 and 2014, Australia takes the top spot among the 24
states with weapons-usable nuclear materials.
• Japan is the most improved state.
• France, the United States, and the United Kingdom score the highest
among nuclear-armed states.
• The United States, India, Russia, and the United Kingdom are the most

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